Did Antonio Margarito “Practice” Using Loaded Gloves In Sparring Sessions? Ace Trainer Freddie Roach Thinks So! -- Eastside Boxing

By James Slater, Eastside Boxing

During a recent media interview with reporters direct from his famous Wild Card gym in L.A, ace trainer Freddie Roach cast yet more doubt on the honesty of Mexico’s Antonio Margarito. The whole loaded gloves story simply refuses to go away for the man who faces pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13th, and what Roach had to say may make the whole saga even worse for “Tony,” a man who has always pleaded his innocence..

Roach, in the video interview that is up on Fightnews.com web site, tells the gathered media that he thinks, but cannot prove, that Margarito practiced using loaded gloves in sparring sessions; some of the sessions involving Roach’s fighters.

“I’ve had people spar with Margarito in the past, and some tell me he can’t punch at all,” Roach said. “Some say he hits like a girl. Others say he’s the best puncher they’ve ever faced. He broke Rashad Holloway’s eye socket. So I think he knew it, he practiced it, and he wanted to get the feel of it in the gym. Again, I wasn’t there so I can’t prove it, but I have to say my opinion.

“He [Margarito] lost a few fights, then after the fight with Paul Williams things changed. His whole attitude, his style, was completely more confident. And at one point [in a fight], his trainer says ‘how’s the punch?’ He didn’t ask him ‘can that guy hit hard?’, he says ‘how’s the punch?’, and he [Margarito] says ‘good.’ If you study the tapes, and if you listen to the language, I think it’s evident.”

Roach says he even had a Spanish translator with him when studying tapes of Margarito, and that he is sure both the fighter and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, cheated knowingly. For the upcoming fight against his fighter Pac-Man, Roach will take no chances. Freddie says he will watch Margarito’s hands get wrapped, even having a guy in his dressing room “at all times.”

“I don’t fucking trust nobody,” Roach said. “I don’t. You can’t.”

Always a guy to speak his mind, Roach may have opened up a whole new can of worms with this latest claim. But when Freddie asks “how come,” when referring to the differing opinions fighters have of Margarito’s punching power, he sure does ask a tough-to-answer question if you’re Margarito or his former trainer.

The only reason for the differing opinions, Roach said: “I can only guess one thing!”

Source: eastsideboxing.com